Vol. 31 No. 4 APRIL
2002
NATIONAL
COUNTY GOVERNMENT
WEEK
APRIL 7—13, 2002
Counties
serve more than 230 million residents in the United States and have
jurisdiction over most of the national territory. County residents exceed the number of persons residing within
municipalities, villages, townships and other types of local government entities. County governments are the fastest growing
all-purpose governments in terms of employment size, with growth rates
exceeding those of the federal, state, municipal and township units since
1980’s.
In a recent survey of American counties, all Montana
counties were considered rural counties.
The social services provided most widely by all sizes of county
governments are:
law
enforcement 84% of
counties
911
emergency services 82%
senior
citizen programs 57%
mental
health services 53%
health
clinics 52%
emergency
medical services 51%
solid
waste removal 51%
Devolution, the trend in American government to shift
responsibility for public services from the federal level to the state and
local levels, affects rural county governments the most. Rural counties are more likely to report
significant problems with reduced federal and state revenues, declining local
tax base, pressure from citizens to reduce taxes, and mandates from higher
levels of governments. These fiscal
constraints are compounded by the fact that most rural counties do not
have staff available to seek additional
outside funds.
Rural county governments are
much less likely to engage in comprehensive planning, farmland preservation,
zoning, watershed protection, and other land-use planning activities. They are also less likely to engage in
economic development activities. While
county governments generally play a larger role in economic development than in
the past, rural counties are less likely to have land-use planners and economic
development professionals on staff.
TOPIC RURAL URBAN
Declining tax base 40% 12%
Staff– Econ. Dev. 31% 61%
Land Use Planner 29% 73%
Grant Writer 28% 51%
County Website 37% 85%
Privatization of services 17% 43%
Business Development 34% 52%
Land Use Plans 38% 64%
Farmland Policy 16% 39%
NACo Rural County Governance Center Research Report No. 1
From
Assistant Director
Harold
Over eighty people braved the
“storm of the winter” to attend the Local Drought Coordinators Seminar that was
held March 20th in the MACo conference room. Attendees were greeted by nearly a foot of
new snow by Wednesday night and quips such as “Let’s have another of these next
week, except in my hometown” were heard often during the day.
This first-ever seminar focused on drought from a local
perspective. Attendees included Local
Drought Coordinators, Disaster Coordinators, County Commissioners, Extension
Agents, Watershed Coordinators, Farmers, Ranchers, Business owners, State and Federal
Agencies, as
well as members of the
Montana Drought Advisory Committee.
The seminar provided an opportunity for local people to
learn about resources that are available to help in drought planning and
mitigation. While it was acknowledged
that the only permanent solution to drought is moisture, there are many ways
that local people can have a dramatic impact on the effects of drought in their
communities by planning and working cooperatively with all stakeholders.
There were nearly a dozen workshops with topics as wide
and varied as are the interests in drought management across our diverse
state. Workshop topics included: Navigating the Drought Internet Site,
Drought Strategies for Agricultural Producers, A Successful Watershed Drought
Plan, Our Town Well is Going Dry! Where Can We Find Help? and many others.
Attendees reported that the seminar was very helpful, not
only in providing information that they will be able to use in their
communities, but it also gave them a better understanding about how drought
affects other interests beyond their own needs and how working together can
provide a means for sharing the limited resources in time of need.
More information can be obtained on the state drought web
site at: http://nris.state.mt.us/drought/ or by contacting Jesse Aber at
jaber@state.mt.us or
(406) 444-6628.
April
2-5
Association of County Road Supervisors; Billings
4
MACo Health/Human Services; Capitol 152; 10:00 am
8 MACo Districts 8, 9 and 12; Dillon
10
MACo Districts 10 and 11; Polson
10-12
County Superintendents of Schools; Lewistown
11 MACo
Executive Committee; MACo Conf. Rm.; 10:00
11 JPA Workers’ Comp. Trustees; MACo Conf. Rm.; 1:00
11
State Drought Advisory Committee; Capitol #152; 9:30
12
JPIA Property/ Liability Renewal Meeting; MACo; 8:00
12
JPIA Bond Working Group; MACo; 1:00 pm
15
MACo Districts 4 and 5; Chinook
17
MACo Districts 1, 2 and 3; Glendive
17 Growth Policy Forum; MACo Conf. Room;
9:30 am
19
MACo Districts 6 and 7; Lewistown
19
District Court Council
23 MACo Health Insurance Meeting; MACo; 10:00 am
29
Elkhorn Advisory Group; MACo Conf. Room; 9:00 am
May
9 CEP Workforce Investment Board
10 District Court Council
13-14
Governor’s Conference on Future of Montana Forests
15-16
BOS Joint Workforce Council
17 State Drought Advisory Committee; Capitol #152; 9:30
20-24
NACo Western Interstate Region (WIR); Billings
By Kurt Alme, Director, Montana Department of Revenue
The
2001 Legislative Session provided for the Montana Department of Revenue, which
serves as administrator of the State’s unclaimed property, to hire an auditor
to oversee its efforts in that program.
Recently, the auditor has been working to determine the level of compliance
of local governments statewide in delivering unclaimed property to the
Department of Revenue. The auditor’s
work has raised some questions concerning the Department of Revenue’s
responsibilities under the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (MCA 70-9-802 through
829).
The biggest question is whether funds
related to cancelled county warrants and treasurer’s checks must be forwarded
to the Department of Revenue as unclaimed property.
Recently, the Department met with
representatives from MACo and the Montana County Treasurers’ Association to
discuss unclaimed property issues, including county warrants and treasurer’s
checks and the legal requirements of the statutes. The statutes do provide that funds related to cancelled county
warrants and treasurer’s checks be forwarded to the Department as unclaimed
property.
Under Montana's Uniform Unclaimed
Property Act, the Department of Revenue is responsible for finding owners of
unclaimed intangible personal property turned over to the State. Montana is considered a "custodial
state" and holds such property on behalf of the owners of lost or
abandoned property. We have a very good
success rate of reuniting about 44% of unclaimed property with its rightful
owner.
By definition, unclaimed property
includes -- but is not limited to -- money, uncashed checks, drafts, state
warrants, utility deposits, interest dividends or income, safe deposit box
contents, credit balances, savings and checking accounts, customer
overpayments, gift certificates, uncashed payroll checks, unidentified
remittances, stocks, bonds and uncashed coupons.
Montana law specifically defines
county-issued warrants (claim warrants, payroll warrants, district court
warrants and the like) and treasurer’s checks as “property.”
The Uniform Unclaimed Property Act deems
property still held by a government or governmental subdivision (in this case,
the county) one year after the property becomes distributable to be presumed
abandoned. Expiration of a statute of
limitations does not preclude the presumption of abandonment. Funds related to warrants and treasurer’s
checks that have remained uncalled or unpaid for periods beyond their
prescribed statutes of limitation are property presumed abandoned.
Abandoned property must be reported to
the Department of Revenue and turned over to the Department. That means each local government is required
to deliver funds related to cancelled county warrants and treasurer’s checks to
the Department.
So, the Department plans to work
cooperatively with all counties to make compliance with the statutes as simple as possible. Beginning in April, the department will send
a notice of our auditor’s specific findings to each Montana county that has
been audited. All counties will then
have a designated period of time to deliver the specific unclaimed property
listed to the Department of Revenue. We
will be working with MACo and the Montana County Treasurers’ Association to
establish a reasonable time period.
Because counties may have been unaware
that the unclaimed property should be delivered to the state, the Department of
Revenue will not impose penalty or interest if the property is turned over
within the designated period.
We encourage any county that has not been
visited by the unclaimed property auditor to contact the department at 444-6900
with their questions about what constitutes unclaimed property.
The Department appreciates having the
opportunity to work cooperatively with the counties in reaching resolution to
this matter.
MACo and County Treasurers’ Association will have a corresponding article on this subject in the May issue of MACo News.
RE-ACTIVATE
COUNTY COMPENSATION BOARDS
7-4-2503(4)(a)
MCA states, “The county compensation board shall hold hearings annually for the
purpose of reviewing the compensation paid to county officers. The compensation board may consider the
compensation paid to comparable officials in other Montana counties, other
states, state government, federal government and private enterprise.”
MACo
has various salary publications available to provide information as
needed.
7-4-2503(4)(b)
MCA reads, “The county compensation board shall prepare a compensation schedule
for the elected county officials, including the county attorney, for the
succeeding fiscal year. The schedule
must take into consideration county variations, including population, the
number of residents living in unincorporated areas, assessed valuation, motor
vehicle registrations, building permits, and other factors necessary to reflect
the variations in the workloads and responsibilities of county officials as
well as the tax resources of the county.”
The
cost-of-living adjustment factor effective July 1, 2002, is 2.8%. The mileage reimbursement rate is 36.5¢ for
up to 1,000 miles; then it becomes 33.5¢.
MILLER APPOINTED
TO WORKSHOP
Victor Miller, MACo 1st Vice President, was appointed
by President Dean Harmon to represent the State of Montana and MACo at an
International Workshop for Emergency Response (IWER) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on
May 20 - 24, 2002.
IWER is sponsored by North Atlantic Treaty
Organization’s Partnership for Peace, which was formed following the
dissolution of the Soviet Union, to help in the transition to democracy.
This latest civilian exchange will focus on earthquake
safety during a three-day workshop featuring speakers from Japan, India, and
Turkey. 300 invitees from 23 nations
will participate.
Three other States participate in the program in
addition to Montana: Louisiana, Nevada
and Arizona.
WESTERN COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP
The fourth Western Community
Stewardship Forum (WCSF) will be held April 14-17 in Estes Park, Colorado. Gallatin County has been invited to attend
this session. Previous attendees from
Montana have been Jefferson County in October 1999 in Park City, Utah; Madison
County in April 2000 in Red Lodge, Montana and Carbon County in September 2000
in Estes Park, Colorado.
Counties which attend are then tracked in their planning
and development efforts by NACo.
NACo WESTERN INTERSTATE REGION (WIR)
May 20-24
Billings
MORE SPECIAL DISTRICTS JOIN JPIA
In the past months, these
Special Districts have joined the JPIA Property and Liability Pool. They bring the total number of Special
Districts in the Insurance Pool to 88.
• Petrolia
Irrigation District
Petroleum County, Monte
Solberg, Agent, Lewistown Insurance
• Reed
Point Water / Sewer District
Stillwater County; Webb
Mandeville, Mandeville Insurance Agency
• Tri-County
Water / Sewer District
Teton, Chouteau and Cascade
Counties; Will Rasmussen, Agent, Payne Financial Group
• Greenfields
Irrigation District
Teton County; Mark Biegler,
Agent, Western States Insurance
• Ashland
Water / Sewer District
Rosebud County; Roger Vraa,
Agent, Rosebud County Insurance
• Twin
Bridges Park District
Madison County; Roberta
Barrows, Agent, Talbot Agency
• Port of
Montana Port Authority
Butte-Silver Bow; Rody
Holman, Agent, Western States Insurance
ANACONDA-DEER LODGE................ Wayne
Ternes BEAVERHEAD............................... Donna
Sevalstad BIG HORN.................................. John
Pretty on Top BLAINE................................................ Victor
Miller BROADWATER........................................ Jim
Hohn CARBON.......................................... David
Davidson CARTER.................................................. John
Kerr CASCADE........................................... Gayle
Morris CHOUTEAU...................................... Harvey
Worrall CUSTER............................................. Dan
Connors DANIELS...................................... C.
William Tandy DAWSON......................................... James
Deckert FALLON.......................................... William
Duffield FERGUS.................................................. Joe
Spika FLATHEAD........................................ Dale
Williams GALLATIN..................................... William
Murdock GARFIELD.................................................. Phil
Hill GLACIER............................................. Allan
Lowry GOLDEN VALLEY................................ Edgar
Lewis GRANITE.............................................. Earl
Martin HILL.............................................. Patrick
Conway JEFFERSON...................................... Sherry
Cargill JUDITH BASIN................................. Henry
Vaskey LAKE................................................. Mike
Hutchin LEWIS and CLARK............................. Mike
Murray LIBERTY.............................................. Loyd
Boyer LINCOLN........................................... Rita
Windom MADISON.......................................... David
Schulz McCONE...................................... Connie
Eissinger MEAGHER........................................ Jamie
Doggett MINERAL.............................................. Judy
Stang MISSOULA......................................... Jean
Curtiss MUSSELSHELL............................... Kelly
Gebhardt PARK.................................................. Ed
Schilling PETROLEUM..................................... Lloyd
Rowton PHILLIPS....................................... Richard
Dunbar PONDERA........................................... Bill
Rappold POWDER RIVER.............................. Don
McDowell POWELL............................................... Tom
Hatch PRAIRIE............................................... Todd
Devlin RAVALLI........................................ Alan
Thompson RICHLAND........................................ Mark
Rehbein ROOSEVELT....................................... Ferris
Toavs ROSEBUD......................................... Gary
Fjelstad SANDERS........................................... Harold
Laws SHERIDAN...................................... Bob
Nikolaisen STILLWATER...................................... Clifford
Bare SWEET GRASS..................................... Lloyd
Berg TETON............................................... Sam
Carlson TOOLE.................................................... Ben
Ober TREASURE....................................... Char
Mackley VALLEY....................................... Marlene
Erickson WHEATLAND..................................... Tom
Bennett WIBAUX........................................... Sandy
Nelson YELLOWSTONE...................................... Jim
Reno BUTTE-SILVER BOW....................... Michael
Kerns
2002-2003 COUNTY COMMISSION CHAIRS
Board of Directors
Member
TREASURERS’
REPRESENTATIVE
Susan Miller
Jefferson County Treasurer
1982 to present
Prior
Occupation Deputy Treasurer
Favorite
Part of the Job People contact; representing
local government; job task variations.
Enjoyed the membership in Montana Treasurers’ Association, the
challenges, accomplishments and friendships.
Least Favorite Part Politics
Goals
for the Position Complete the tasks on hand
and leave the office ready for the next treasurer
Personal Married; no children, one
dog; enjoys swimming, bicycling, motorcycle rides, group gatherings and
dinners; cooking
Motto Keep moving forward!
17-COUNTY
O.P.A.
REORGANIZATION
April
25th is the extended deadline for comments regarding the proposed
reorganization of Offices of Public Assistance in seventeen eastern Montana
counties. The proposal addresses management structure, service delivery,
workload balance and distances for clients.
T. Gary Curtis, private consultant, conducted a series of interviews and
a review of information to make three recommendations. Much credit was given to OPA county
directors and county commissioners for suggestions and background.
Recommendation 1
Valley, Roosevelt, Sheridan
and Daniels Counties unite into one service delivery area with Wolf Point the
main office. Phillips County aligns
with counties to its west.
Recommendation 2
Richland, Dawson, Wibaux,
Fallon and Carter Counties unite into one service area with Glendive as the
main office.
Recommendation 3
Temporarily, McCone County
will move to in a service area with Garfield, Prairie, Custer, Powder River,
Treasure and the northern half of Rosebud County with Miles City as the main
office. The Northern Cheyenne
Reservation unites under one County Director in Hardin.
Curtis
also recommends that the enrollment form allow registration from outside the
home county but still be tracked by county of residence and office of
enrollment. After discussion about
fraud prevention, he also recommends a return to the practice of providing
enrollment information to the County Commissioners, with a procedure to notify
the Commission when a legal requirement excludes this practice.
COMPUTER USE
POLICIES
Selections from
Montana State Government Policy
All entities that use the State’s network are encouraged to
adopt similar policies. These policies
apply to all computers that reside on the inside of the State’s Internet firewall,
including all state agencies, as well as local government entities.
There is a fundamental importance of information resources and
a responsibility for safe keeping these resources. Each agency will create, disseminate and maintain a copy of each
employee’s consent form for this policy.
Internet Filtering
1) Employees should not have
an expectation of privacy for use of the Internet.
2) Internet filtering (or
blocking) of individual web sites or general classes of sites will be
instituted for the following reasons:
a) network performance
b) an apparent violation of state
or federal law or policy
c) security risks.
These classes are filtered:
a) Radio stations-real
audio
b) Sexually explicit material
c) Hate speech
d) Non-standard
e-mail sites
e) Anonymous web sites
f) “Napster”-style music distribution sites
Electronic Mail
All e-mail, sent or received,
is the property of the State of Montana.
The State e-mail system is to be used for:
1) the conduct of state and local government business and
delivery of government services
2) transmitting sharing of information among governmental,
research, and educational
organizations
3) supporting open research and education in and between
national and international research and instructional institutions
4) communicating and exchanging professional information
5) encouraging debate of issues in a specific field of
expertise
6) applying for or administering grants or contracts
7) announcing requests for proposals and bids
8) announcing new services for use in research or instruction
9) conducting other appropriate business.
The following items
represent, but are not restricted to, misuse of e-mail resources:
1) Circulating chain letters
2) For-profit activities; “non-profit or public ,
professional or service organization activities that aren’t related to job
duties
3) Extensive use for private, recreational or personal activities
4) Use of personal e-mail accounts
Communications sent or
received by e-mail system may be “documents” under Article II, Section 9 of
Montana Constitution or public records Section 2-6-101 MCA, and should be
generated and maintained accordingly. If
a mail item needs to be retained, it should be moved to an archive folder, a
disk, or be printed.
Unsolicited mail, or spam,
should be deleted immediately.
Employees should strive to
keep message and attachment sizes as small as possible.
COMMUNICATION TOWERS
BEAVERHEAD
COUNTY
approved cell tower proposals, adding requirements to use non-reflective
material or paint, to have an approved weed management plan and to make
FAA-required markings on them.
GALLATIN,
BIG HORN and FERGUS COUNTIES all are considering complaints and possible
proposals to establish air protection zones around airports, in response to
nearby cell-tower locations.
LAND SWAP
SANDERS
COUNTY
arranged a successful land exchange with the Montana Department of Natural
Resources (DNRC). DNRC obtained a
four-acre parcel of county property where their buildings are located and the
County received a permanent easement for part of the golf course and a property
lease for DNRC Fire and Aviation efforts.
DROUGHT AND MENTAL HEALTH
CHOUTEAU
COUNTY’s
social services have up to 50% increases in cases needing drug/alcohol
treatment, mental health counseling and law enforcement for stress related conflicts.
PER-HEAD CATTLE ASSESSMENTS
PRAIRIE
COUNTY will
establish a predatory animal control program, if a petition to establish a 50¢
per head assessment on cattle is successful.
40% will be used for aerial coyote control and 60% for a county-wide
bounty on coyotes.
SPACE FOR NEW DISTRICT
JUDGE
CASCADE
COUNTY is
faced with finding space for a fourth district judge to begin in 2003. Proposals include remodeling the courthouse
or the old jail and leasing.
EMPTY V.A. CENTER
CUSTER
COUNTY has
agreed to accept ownership of the former Veterans Center in Miles City if
the Center can demonstrate a balanced cash flow so that it won’t become a
burden on taxpayers. However,
remodeling and improvements are needed to attract tenants, and tenants are
needed to accumulate funding for remodeling.
COUNTY LAND AUCTION
VALLEY
COUNTY has
shifted from a per acre charge for grazing on its county land to a
per-animal-unit rate. In addition, the
County asks for volunteers from grazers to put the leased acreage up for
auction. Their 10-year plan is to
auction 4,000 acres per year, but this year they offered only 2,328 acres
because not as much land was volunteered for sale.
LEVY VOTE RECOUNTS
PARK
COUNTY
conducted three recounts of the tied vote for a sheriff’s mill levy to hire
more staff. The vote finally was
declared a failed vote because of the tie.
BAR STOOL RACES
FLATHEAD
COUNTY
denied a petition requesting a 24-year tradition to continue down the main
street of Martin City. Recent
opposition to the race of bar stools, mounted on skis, down the snowy street
led the Commission to insist that the races be held on a back street.
ENERGY SOURCES
FALLON
COUNTY is
working with the City of Baker to drill a gas well to lower energy costs for
all county and city buildings.
DISSOLVED PLANNING BOARD
FLATHEAD
COUNTY and
surrounding communities dissolved their countywide administrative planning
board. Now, before new planning
jurisdictions are set, court must decide who owns a $256,000 cash reserve left
over from the original Board.
COUNTY CURFEW
HILL
COUNTY,
following a series of hearings, approved its first county curfew for children
and youth.
EX PARTE COMMUNICATIONS
LEWIS
and CLARK COUNTY passed
a resolution to ban ex parte communications for quasi-judicial decisions. Opponents or anyone else with a pending
issue before the Board may not contact any of the Commissioners outside of the
public hearing process.
BEARS IN THE GARBAGE
GALLATIN
COUNTY has
arranged with BFI Waste Services to have new bear-proof dumpsters placed in Big
Sky, in accordance with the County ordinance.
PARK
COUNTY will
more carefully adhere to its policies for locking the gates around the green
box collection site in Cooke City to prevent bears coming into the collection
site.
JAILS
GALLATIN
COUNTY set
the end of June for a mail ballot on an $18.3 million jail bond issue. A citizen petition containing nearly 10,000
signatures called for the election.
CARBON
COUNTY is
considering a proposal for construction of a modular jail. The County closed its substandard jail last
July and has been transporting inmates to Yellowstone County, but has been
consistently exceeding its number of reserved beds.
ROADS and BRIDGES
RAVALLI
COUNTY District
Court judge ruled that the County isn’t responsible for a bridge that crumpled
in 1996 and doesn’t have to compensate landowners who built a new bridge
there. The decision was based on a 1979
precedent that defined public and private bridges.
PARK
COUNTY’s
proposal to have landowners pay for the replacement of cattle guards and
irrigation culverts on county roads was abandoned. However, a landowner will be required to pay for a cattle guard
or culvert if the landowner wants one in a new location.
ROOSEVELT
COUNTY is
considering a road abandonment based on a petition with 79 signatures of
support. However, other neighbors spoke
for continuing the east-west access.
CARBON
COUNTY road
maintenance procedures have been criticized, with the Commissioners attempting
to explain the affects of drought, inflation, and increased travel. They are considering forming a committee to
study road issues.
2002 LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE
March 1-5; Washington DC
NACo Steering Committee meetings were held during the first
days. Montana’s delegates to the
committees were:
Vern
Petersen, Transportation
Connie
Eissinger, Public Lands
Victor
Miller, Labor and Employment
Kathy
Bessette, Environment, Energy and Land Use
Gary Fjelstad, Community and Economic Development
Bill Kennedy, Health
Dean
Harmon, Finance and Government
Harold
Blattie, Agriculture
Training sessions included topics on:
Delivering Human
Services During Emergencies
HIPAA Impact on
Local Government
Safeguarding Retirement
Benefits
Election Reform
Drinking Water
Safety
Influencing
Congress
Remote Sales Tax
Welfare Reform
Reauthorization
Endangered
Species
Transit, Highway
and Road Funding
E-government for
Rural Counties
The closing
session featured US Attorney General John Ashcroft as speaker.
NACo ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY AND LAND USE COMMITTEE
Kathy Bessette, Hill County
Six subcommittees
met before the main Committee meeting:
Land Use & Growth, Water Quality, Watershed Management, Energy,
Solid & Hazardous Waste and Air Quality.
In the Land Use & Growth meeting a CD, “Model Statutes for Planning
and the Management of Change”, was distributed. The Energy Subcommittee received information on fuel cells, an
electrochemical energy conversion device.
A vehicle powered by a fuel cell will be capable of 250-400 mile range
before re-fueling and will achieve 70-80 MPG.
The goal is to have these vehicles on the market within ten years. The Solid & Hazardous Waste Subcommittee
reviewed a court decision in which flow control authorization was taken away
from local governments. Ordinances will
designate public-owned transfer stations for processing all solid waste
originating within designated counties.
This is seen as an unfunded mandate.
In the full Committee, the Bush Administration announced
their designation of up to 20 watershed areas which will receive funding
assistance. Two resolutions were
passed: one calling for an increased
investment in water infrastructure for local governments and another on
childhood asthma reduction. Two
resolutions were referred to Conference in New Orleans: one to require the Department of Energy to
develop national policies on the transportation of radioactive waste and the
other to urge United States and Mexico to formulate an agreement establishing
common air quality standards for the U.S./Mexico border corridor.
NACo PUBLIC LANDS COMMITTEE
Connie Eissinger, McCone County
An Endangered Species Act panel noted that Section 6 of the Act allows the
Fish and Wildlife Service to enter into cooperative agreements with states to
administer actions with thought and consultation. In addition, there is consideration for landowner incentives
through $160 million in grants to state, local and private landowners. Federal agencies have sent instructions to
the district managers requiring that they offer, encourage and solicit local
governments as cooperating agencies.
Any regulatory actions will be preceded by a personal phone call to the
local government, rather than fax notification.
NACo President Javier Gonzales urged counties to attend the Gateways Communities workshop to be held the day prior to the WIR Conference in Billings. It is important to attend and participate in the debate.
In addition, WIR Board members met
with Lynn Scarlet, Assistant Secretary of Policy, Management and Budget, who is
planning to give more priority to funding the comparative grant programs at the
expense of PILT. The meeting was
valuable in allowing us to present our issues in person and in an amicable way.
NACo TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
Vern Petersen, Fergus County
We met as a task force on Thursday afternoon to prioritize the TEA 21 renewal
efforts, again on Friday at the Highway Safety Subcommittee and on Saturday for
the full Transportation Steering Committee.
We had no speakers, went through routine business and did the
resolutions. We spent three hours with
the full Committee going over our recommendations. We included changes in the
resolution language for the rural set-aside to get closer to what I need for my
proposal for local road funds.
We had two general workshops on the
renewal effort which were very well attended.
Dawn Levy, Senate Environment and Public Works staff for Senator Baucus,
presented their proposal. It is good
for all, but especially for rural states.
I was able to present my local roads
funding proposal to both Dawn and Senator Baucus when we met with them. I will follow up with Dawn to help her
understand the mechanics of it.
In the telecommunications meeting
they announced an FCC audit on radio licenses.
This has nothing to do with the expiration dates. They mailed letters in September to license holders
and all must respond. To see who
got letters in your county, log on to: wireless.fcc.gov/plmrs/audit.html and at
the bottom of the page click “spectrum audit data base”. If you have any problems you can call the
FCC at 1-888-225-5322, ext. 2.
Montana NACo member counties and
their corresponding votes are:
Anaconda-Deer Lodge... 1 Blaine........................ 1 Broadwater................. 1 Carbon....................... 1 Carter......................... 1 Cascade..................... 3 Custer........................ 1 Daniels....................... 1 Fallon......................... 1 Fergus....................... 1 Flathead..................... 3 Gallatin...................... 2 Glacier....................... 1 Granite....................... 1 Hill............................. 1 Judith Basin................ 1 Lewis and Clark.......... 2 Lincoln....................... 1 Madison..................... 1 McCone..................... 1 Meagher..................... 1 Mineral....................... 1 Missoula.................... 3 Musselshell................ 1 Park........................... 1 Petroleum................... 1 Phillips....................... 1 Powder River............... 1 Prairie........................ 1 Ravalli........................ 1 Richland..................... 1 Roosevelt................... 1 Rosebud..................... 1 Sanders..................... 1 Stillwater.................... 1 Sweet Grass............... 1 Teton......................... 1 Toole.......................... 1 Valley........................ 1 Yellowstone................ 5
Previous
members whose dues have recently lapsed will not have votes at the Billings WIR
meeting. They are Beaverhead, Chouteau,
Jefferson, Powell and Sheridan Counties.
______________________________________________________________________
FOR SALE
Mark-Rite Admiral 120 paint
striping machine on a truck frame (Serial # 36417) includes:
Ingersoll Rand 3-cylinder air compressor
Binks 60 gallon pressure fluid tanks with
agitator (2)
Bead tanks, 25 gallon (2)
Paint thinner tank, 10 gallon, with
instruction book
The striper is in fair
condition, clean & maintained.
$4,000 OBO
Carl Bagley, Phillips County 654-2512 ______________________________________________________________________
FOR SALE
2 high speed dot matrix
printers - excellent condition